Loading... Bundled Betas

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Posted Thu, Nov 12, 2009 by Sardu

Welcome to the 1,207th edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

With Funcom’s recently announced incentive to revitalize interest in Age of Conan, the developer joins the swelling ranks of studios attempting to sweeten the deal on multiple month subscriptions. But are bundled beta access offers for upcoming titles all they’re cracked up to be, or simply a new take on the concept of paid betas? The latest industry trend plus a look at the changes being made in the StarCraft universe, our latest hands on impressions of Runes of Magic and much more await in today’s Loading… Bundled Betas.

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results:

Biggest movers over the past week:

Dragon Age Origins (Up 2 to #7)
Torchlight ((Up 2 to #13)
Aion (Down 1 to #6)

Recent Releases

9/9 - Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited (release date)
9/15 - Runes of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion)
9/22 - Fallen Earth (release date)
9/22 - Aion (release date)
10/8 - Cities XL (release date)
11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
11/10 - Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection (release date)

Upcoming Releases

12/1 - LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (expansion)
12/2 - DOFUS 2.0 (release date)
12/15 - EverQuest: Underfoot (expansion)
2/2 - Star Trek Online (release date)
Early 2010 - APB
Feb. 2010 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)

Loading... Daily

Providing customers with additional benefits for a larger upfront investment isn’t a new concept in MMO gaming. Collector’s editions of new releases, once a rare practice, have become an industry staple over the past few years as one such example. Even multiple month subscription offers that reduce the cost of a single month’s fee have become more commonplace. Lately though, there’s been an interesting trend on the upswing as an increasing number of developers attempt to woo players into these long-term subscriptions by bundling them with other unique promotional offers.

Hot on the heels of Turbine’s announcement that multiple month subscribers to Lord of the Rings Online would be able to play the upcoming Siege of Mirkwood expansion for free, Funcom has taken a similar approach with their latest promotion geared towards swelling the ranks of the Age of Conan servers. While a free copy of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion is certainly a worthy incentive for players to dive headlong into a 12 month subscription to AoC, it’s the inclusion of a guaranteed spot in The Secret World’s open beta with the 3 month plan that will no doubt pique the interest of a much larger number of MMO gamers.

While it doesn’t come as a total shock that Funcom has opted to bundle beta access for their upcoming title with an effort to revitalize interest in one of their current live games, it will be interesting to see what type of beta access the $35.98 subscription to AoC will buy you. Only time will tell whether this will be the newfangled marketing hype style open beta that serves as a ‘soft launch’ a couple weeks out from the official release date, or if players will be given a larger chunk of access for their cash. Either way it will be interesting to see if Funcom can successfully renew interest in AoC via the inclusion of TSW open beta access in their latest promotion.

A few months ago Cryptic made a similar offer to lifetime subscribers of Champions Online. Minus a few minor hiccups in the last few days prior to launch, that promotion could certainly be viewed as a major success for the industry vets at Cryptic. Of interest here though is that the inclusion of guaranteed beta access for upcoming Star Trek Online no doubt played a sizable role in the lifetime subscriptions selling out in a relatively short span of time. That particular offer, however, was also somewhat vague in terms of what type of beta access it ultimately entails. 2 ½ months into my lifetime of super powered mayhem and I’ve yet to receive an STO beta invite. That gives Cryptic a month and a half to honor the “before the end of the year” beta access component of the promotion. While still well within the bounds of the original offer, it does lead me to wonder if that access will come even a day sooner than December 31st. Meanwhile the closed beta for STO is already well underway.

But enough about my admittedly biased opinion of bundling beta offers with long term subscription plans. Instead, I’d like to hear what all of you think about this latest MMOG marketing trend. Is the reduced rate on multi-month subs a strong enough incentive on its own, or are developers pushing things in a positive direction by bundling in betas and expansions to sweeten the deal? Share your thoughts right here in the Loading… forums!

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our WoW News Discussion forum

Movie Title to Be - Warcraft: The Rise of the Lich King

Blahblahblah game movies suck blahblah. We know that movies based on games tend to be...less than entertaining. But what fate will befall the fabled World of Warcraft movie? After all, millions of players dig WoW and will (hopefully) flock to a movie about their MMOG love. And this particular movie is directed by Sam Rami of Spiderman fame. Could be a hit! Or...or not.

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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"Will it have a plot as intelligent and gripping as Plan 9 from Outer Space?"

- Loofah
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

5 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 43 in November! 3,015 in 2009!

Today's Exclusives at Ten Ton Hammer

Runes of Magic - First Impressions
Runes of Magic is a free to play MMO that is new to the market. We sent out ZeroMerc to check out the game, play a few classes and give us his first impressions of this latest installment into the world of free to play MMO's. Join him as he shares his first impressions of Runes of Magic.

StarCraft 2 - A Look at What's New in the StarCraft Universe
The protoss, zerg, and terran armies have unfinished business and a full scale war is brewing in the StarCraft universe. With all the new shiny graphics and enhanced gameplay, Blizzard's sequel to the popular StarCraft RTS game already has a legion of fans waiting in the shadows, but how does the game stack up to its predecessor? This week Ten Ton Hammer takes a look at some of the features in StarCraft 2 and what's changed in the newest game in the franchise.

New Features & Guides Today at Ten Ton Hammer

Aion: Spiritmaster Pet Guide
The Spiritmaster doesn’t believe in a fair fight. Why go mono y mono when you can sneak a few friends in to fight for you? Using this strategy of more is more, the Spiritmaster conjures both semi-permanent and very temporary elements of Fire, Wind, Earth and Water to fight by his/her side. Understanding the primary benefits of the different types of Spirits and Servants is critical for a Spiritmaster. Read up on the different types of Spirits, Energies, and Servants and the skills best used for each type in this week’s Spiritmaster Pet Guide.
Aion Ranger Stigma List
Stigmas are the key to class customization in Aion. Whether you are a dedicated PvE player or strive to take out the opposition in PvP gameplay, the stigmas you choose can make all the difference in your hopeful success. This list will get you started in finding the right skills that will benefit your class the most. Use it as a pre-planning tool or a starting point to track down the stigmas you want!
The Archer Comes to Dragonica
New content for the Archer class has come to Dragonica, and we've got the screenshots to prove it. A master of distance combat, this class eventually unlocks hunter and ranger classes for even more ranged action. Hit-and-run, traps, animal spirits - all of these are the flavor of the Dragonica Archer.

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